Mitch and Patsy Boatwright, two poor white Georgians, win the $318 million Max-a-Million jackpot.

Shaw McBride and Romeo Zderko are on their way to Florida to find new jobs. They stop at a convenience store where they hear about the Boatwrights’ win. They decide to share in the Boatwrights’ good luck and devise a scheme to gain part of their winnings. They take the Boatwrights hostage, threatening to kill the Boatwrights' loved ones unless they agree to hand over half of their winnings. While Shaw holds the family hostage, Romeo patrols the town threatening to kill anyone who interferes. The Boatwrights’ daughter, a community school student, devises a plan to rescue the family.

Ravens is a tense psychological thriller with an atmosphere of madness and fear which builds up to a devastating and chilling climax. It shows how the victims can come to love their tormentors (the Stockholm syndrome). The major characters are fully developed with their feelings of greed and delusions of power.